Benton County Speedway's biggest race of the season is less than a week away as the 19th annual Hogan Memorial will take center stage this Sunday, July 14 on the Vinton quarter-mile.
What has become a must-see event, the Hogan Memorial showcases the best IMCA Modified drivers in the area as they compete for significantly increased prize money in a unique format. While qualifying will be determined by the draw/redraw format, the 40-lap feature will once again include a mandatory five minute caution on lap 20 to allow drivers the opportunity to make changes and repairs to their cars in view of the fans on the front straightaway.
The event honors the memory of longtime racing supporters Dick and Janet Hogan, the late parents of IMCA Modified driver Scott Hogan. It was first held on July 2, 1995, to honor Dick after he passed away while attending the races at Independence Motor Speedway. Following out of car introductions, Janet brought the cars to life with the familiar call of, "Gentlemen start your engines." She continued that tradition annually until her own death in 2006.
While the event is held in honor of Dick and Janet, it has grown into something beyond the wildest imagination of even the Hogan family. Yes, Dick and Janet continue and will always remain the reason behind the special night, however they must certainly look down with pride every year to see how much this one night brings together the fans, racers, crews and sponsors.
The Hogan family has seen and appreciates what this event has come to mean over the years. It's more than just about the Hogan family and it's more than just about racing. It's one night to celebrate racing family.
According to Scott's wife, Jolyne, "To us, it's all about family, friends and racing. Knowing the hard work and effort everyone puts into their race teams and track is what's important. It is for the love of our families and our love of racing. We want it to be a race people remember fondly when they leave that evening."
Through the years, there has been a steady increase
in attendance and car counts. While there was a stout field of 41
Modifieds signed in last year, drivers and their families from other
divisions have come to offer just as much support for the show. Last season alone,
127 race teams signed in to compete in the five divisions in front of a standing room only crowd.
Originally, the Modifieds competed as part of the weekly points races at the speedway. Through the years, that field became so impressive that the Modified division transitioned into a draw/redraw non-points special. The lap 20 pit stop was added a few years ago. All other weekly divisions, including IMCA sanctioned Stock Cars, Northern SportMods, Hobby Stocks and Sport Compacts, compete for points and are also recognized by the Hogan family.
This year's Hogan Memorial offers up to $3,500 in prize money for the IMCA Modified feature winner alone. The 40-lapper automatically pays $1,250 to win, with $50 lap money bonuses and a $250 midway leader bonus. In addition, each Modified heat race winner will receive $100. Those bonuses are provided by the many friends and supporters of the Hogan family and area racing.
Following heat race and B feature qualifying for the Modifieds, the top two in weekly track points not already qualified will be guaranteed provisional starting spots in the feature. In addition, two past champions who are not already qualified will also be awarded provisional starting spots.
As I mentioned earlier, the remaining divisions will be for weekly track points and will lineup based on season point averages through the first 12 points races of the season. There is no entry fee in any of the five divisions.
If you haven't already made plans to attend this year's Hogan Memorial, it will be well worth the price of admission. It's all about racing and it's all about family and the Hogan family goes above and beyond the call of duty each year to ensure that remains the focus of this great event.
Grandstand admission is $12 for adults and $4 for kids ages 6-13. Kids five and under are free. Pit passes are $25. Gates open at 4:30 p.m., with hot laps at 6 and racing to follow.
If you're looking for a little history on the Hogan Memorial, all of that information follows below. It includes statistical trends and every Modified feature starter in the race's 19-year history. Also included are all past champions in every division from the last 19 years. Enjoy, and I hope to see you July 14 in Vinton!
HOGAN MEMORIAL BY THE NUMBERS (Modifieds)
Past Champions
1995 - Scott Hogan
1996 - Timm Jensen
1997 - Corey Dripps
1998 - Mike Sampson
1999 - Jan Messer
2000 - Jeff Barkdoll
2001 - Ed Thomas
2002 - Timm Jensen
2003 - Troy Cordes
2004 - Vern Jackson
2005 - Scott Hogan
2006 - Scott Hogan
2007 - J.D. Auringer
2008 - Nate Caruth
2009 - Michael Long
2010 - Scott Hogan
2011 - Jerry Luloff
2012 - Richie Gustin
All-time qualifiers (times qualified), in alphabetical order by first name
Adam Johnson (4), Aric Becker (1), Arlo Becker (5);
Bart Miller (1), Beau Duffield (1), Ben Metcalf (2), Bill Roberts Jr. (1), Brad Anders (5), Brandon Banks (1), Brett Root (2), Brian Krall (7), Brian Kunkle (1), Brian Sondag (1), Buck Swanson (4), Buster Pate (7);
Cayden Carter (1), Chad Knipp (2), Chris Snyder (2), Chris Stein (1), Clayton Thomas (2), Corey Dripps (5);
Dan Chapman (4), Dan Kohls (3), Dan Ratajczak (1), Darin Duffy (3), Dave Burrell (2), Dave Stricker (5), David Brown (1), Dawn Krall (1), Dean East (1), Dennis Betzer (5), Derek Reimer (1), Dick Covington (6), Don Erger (7), Don White (1), Doug Firgard (2);
Ed Thomas (15), Garry Stuber (4), Hank Hanneman (2), Heath Kusel (2);
J.D. Auringer (8), J.J. Wise (1), Jack Mitchell (4), Jacob Murray (2), Jake Bowman (1), Jamie Aikey (1), Jan Messer (2), Jason Murray (2), Jay Schmidt (2), Jeff Barkdoll (3), Jeff Hogan (7), Jeff Kriz (1), Jeff Risse (1), Jeff Schroyer (2), Jeff Waterman (2), Jerry Dedrick (2), Jerry Luloff (10), Jimmy Gustin (1), Jody Herger (1), Joe Docekal (3), Joel Cox (1), Joey Schaefer (9), Johnathan Thimmesch (6), Jon Passick (1), Josh McGowan (1);
Keith Pittman (1), Kevin Goben (1), Kevin Kirkpatrick (1), Kevin Peverill (1), Kevin Pittman (1), Kurt Hogan (1), Kyle Brown (1), Kyle Krampe (1);
Landon Cassill (3), Lew Chipp (2);
Mark Schulte (1), Max Corporon (3), Michael Long (2), Mike Burbridge (2), Mike Gill (1), Mike Krall (2), Mike Sampson (5), Mike Van Genderen (2), Mike Weikert Jr. (3), Mitch Morris (1);
Nate Caruth (2);
Patrick Flannagan (13);
Randy Trefz (11), Rich Krafka (4), Richie Gustin (3), Ricky Stephan (1), Rob Olson (1), Robbie Schmuecker (8), Ron Becker (2), Ron Parbs (4), Ronn Lauritzen (3);
Scott Hogan (13), Shawn Fisher (9), Shawn Ryan (1), Stan VerVynck (1), Steve Krug (2), Steve Ricks (2);
Terry Johnson (2), Tim McBride (4), Tim Murty (6), Tim Stevens (2), Tim Thomas (2), Timm Jensen (12), Todd Jensen (11), Todd Shute (1), Tom Hanson (2), Tony Olson (5), Troy Burkhart (3), Troy Cordes (12), Ty Glass (1);
Vern Jackson (6);
Wayne Struchen (3);
Zach Rawlins (1).
Most features
Ed Thomas (15) - Not only has Thomas qualified for the most Hogan Memorials in the event's history, but he qualified for all 15 in consecutive years. That streak is alive entering 2013. Thomas has qualified for every event since 1998.
Most top-3s, 5s and 10s
Scott Hogan leads all three of these statistical categories. In his 13 qualifying runs in Hogan Memoral history, Hogan has earned 12 top-10 finishes. Ten of those were top-5s and eight were top-3s. He is also the all-time Memorial leader with four wins.
Seconds, please?
Troy Cordes leads all drivers with five runner-up finishes in Hogan Memorial history. His five second place finishes have come in 12 successful qualifying attempts. His five runner-up finishes spanned just seven events (2002, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008).
Best average finish (minimum of five features)
Scott Hogan (13 events) - Average finish of 4.46
Jerry Luloff (10) - 5.10
Timm Jensen (12) - 7.08
Troy Cordes (12) - 7.17
Joey Schaefer (9) - 8.00
Arlo Becker (5) - 8.00
Mike Sampson (5) - 8.20
Brad Anders (5) - 8.80
Randy Trefz (11) - 9.45
Vern Jackson (6) - 9.83
Most consecutive top-10 finishes (all-time)
Scott Hogan - 8 (2004-2011)
Most consecutive top-10 finishes (current)
Jerry Luloff - 3 (since 2010)
Most consecutive top-5 finishes (all-time)
Scott Hogan - 4 (1995-1998)
Jack Mitchell - 4 (1995-1998)
Troy Cordes - 4 (2002-2005)
Most consecutive top-5 finishes (current)
Jerry Luloff - 3 (since 2010)
Most consecutive top-3 finishes (all-time)
Troy Cordes - 4 (2002-2005)
Timm Jensen - 3 (1995-1997)
Scott Hogan - 3 (2005-2007)
Most consecutive top-3 finishes (current)
Jerry Luloff - 2 (since 2011)
OTHER PAST CHAMPIONS
Hobby Stock
1995 - Danny Dvorak
1996 - Ron Tharp
1997 - Scott Pippert
1998 - Danny Dvorak
1999 - Ron Tharp
2000 - Frankie Dulin
2001 - Scooter Dulin
2002 - Vince Buchholz
2003 - Jason Schutterle
2004 - Ron Tharp
2005 - Steve Meyer
2006 - Paul Shepherd
2007 - Nathan Ballard
2008 - Curt Hilmer
2009 - Scott Pippert
2010 - Jacob Keiser
2011 - Scott Pippert
2012 - Scott Pippert
Stock Car
2001 - Dan Trimble
2002 - Dan Trimble
2003 - Justin Temeyer
2004 - Dan Trimble
2005 - Dan Trimble
2006 - Damon Murty
2007 - Justin Temeyer
2008 - Justin Temeyer
2009 - Phil Holtz
2010 - Damon Murty
2011 - Justin Temeyer
2012 - John Emerson
SportMod
2005 - Danny Dvorak
2006 - Danny Dvorak
2007 - Kyle Bentley
2008 - Danny Dvorak
2009 - Austin Kaplan
2010 - Curt Hilmer
2011 - Racer Hulin
2012 - Tyler Droste
Sport Compact
2006 - Travis McCombs
2007 - Gary Peiffer
2008 - Doug Laughridge
2009 - Steve Miedke
2010 - Brad Chandler
2011 - Brett Vanous
2012 - Steve Miedke
Pro Stock
1995 - Bobby Hansen
1996 - Ken Hanson
1997 - Bobby Hansen
1998 - Tom Struve
1999 - Bob Ebaugh
2000 - Tom Hanson
2001 - Jeff Franck
2002 - Josh McGowan
2003 - Jeff Kriz
2004 - John Vrba
2005 - Scott Welsh
Thunder Mod
1999 - Danny Dvorak
2000 - Dennis Betzer
2001 - Dan Wiley
2002 - Shawn Stinger
2003 - Danny Dvorak
2004 - Ken Irvine
Compact Modified
1996 - Scott McLaughlin
1997 - Scott McLaughlin
1998 - Scott McLaughlin
1999 - Jody Herger
That will take care of the look back at Hogan Memorial history. Complete results of the 19th annual event will follow next week.
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